Author Archives: Doug

Alameda History Presentation | January 23rd

December 29, 2009 By in Alameda Park, Neighborhood History, Research Leave a comment

We’ve just heard from our friends at the Architectural Heritage Center that there are still some seats left for the Saturday, January 23rd presentation about Alameda History. We’ll be taking a trip back through time to look at how the neighborhood developed, some of the key builders, and stories from across the years that help characterize the life and times of the Alameda Park neighborhood. The program runs from 10:00-11:30 a.m. at the Architectural Heritage Center, 701 S.E. Grand Ave., Portland.

Click here for more information about registration.

Alameda Community Church: The Rest of the Story

December 22, 2009 By in Alameda Park, Neighborhood History, Research Tags: , 1 Comment

There are always at least two sides to any story (usually a lot more), and we’ve recently found a description of the events surrounding the neighborhood opposition to the Alameda Park Community Church that sheds further light on exactly what happened around here in the fall of 1921.

Let us whet your appetite with this clip, from the April 1923 edition of The American Missionary, published by the Congregational Home Missionary Society:

To help put this in context, if you haven’t already read it, we’d recommend reading the page on the church (today’s Subud Center) which you can find by clicking here. Be sure to have a good look at the photos too.

In order to appreciate what The Rev. Allingham is about to tell us, you have to know that some in the Alameda Park neighborhood were up in arms about the construction of the church at NE 30th and Mason. Several protests were organized, a petition got up, and a fair amount of consternation resulted, including relocation of a construction site. The story hits close to home for us because the leading petitioners were the folks who lived in our house for 50 years, and the original intended construction site are the two lots immediately north of us.

Let’s catch up with The Rev. Allingham: 

The turning of the other cheek. He continues:

The reference to the children from the homes that objected to the church: that’s probably Bruce and Jean Morrison who lived here and were probably some of those kids who snuck out the back door of home to check out Sunday mornings at the Bungalow Church. Hmm. And the church seems to have served the community up into the 1950s and early 1960s. We’ll continue looking for additional stories and articles that chronicle the building’s life and times. In the meantime, with The Rev. Allingham’s words in our minds, stroll past the building at Regents and Mason and listen for the echoes of all those children.

Alameda Park Community Church Drawings Found

December 10, 2009 By in Alameda Park, Neighborhood History, Old Photos Tags: , 4 Comments

If you’re a long-time reader of the blog, you’ll recall our piece on the controversy about construction of the Alameda Park Community Church (click here for that page). As a reminder, in the Fall of 1920, neighbors were not happy about plans to build the church on two lots at the southwest corner of 30th Avenue and Mason. The former owners of our house—Walter and Edith Morrison—led a campaign to oppose the building, and then to relocate the planned construction one block east to the island at the corner of Mason and Regents where it was ultimately built (but not before trying unsuccessfully to kick it out of the neigborhood altogether) .

While researching recently through building permits and related documents filed on microfiche, we came across the original drawings for the building, all filed for construction at 30th Avenue and Mason. Take a look:

Detail from elevation drawings filed with construction documents for the city’s permit process. Note that the building was designed by architect Edward G. Larson, working for Redimade Building Company (which was based in Portland).

The church building, now known as the Subud Center, is still going strong and a neat place for meetings, events and large family gatherings.

We continue to keep any ear out for stories, memories and photos of this building. Have something you can share?

More on Harry Phillips

December 9, 2009 By in Builders, Neighborhood History Tags: Leave a comment

We’ve known there are many other Portland homes and buildings yet to be discovered that were built by Harry Phillips, in addition to the 19 we’ve found so far here in Alameda Park. Thanks to some attentive visitors to the blog, we have an important addition to make to the list.

Prolific builder Harry Phillips built this English Cottage style Ladd’s Addition home in 1926 for his parents Henry and Louise Phillips. Photo courtesy of Tami and Brian Clare. 

The Henry and Louise Phillips home—located at 2108 SE Cypress—is a special English cottage that Harry built for his parents in 1926. Current residents of the home—Tami and Brian Clare—found our biography of Harry (click here to read the Phillips bio), which triggered a connection to their home. Tami and Brian had seen Harry’s name in the documentation about the house that was submitted as part of the Ladd’s Addition National Historic District nomination package. After visiting the blog, they put two and two together, and sent me a quick e-mail sharing their observation.

According to the nomination: “The house was built by building contractor Harry Phillips for Henry Phillips, possibly a relative, a machinist for Southern Pacific Company, who lived in the house with his wife, Louise.”

Brian and Tami wrote us with the following thoughts about the house:

“We love the style of our home, and so it was very exciting to find your website and know that there are other Harry Phillips homes in Portland!”

They were as excited to learn more about Harry as we were to find this special home he built for his folks. They also shared a photo of a carved ornamental beam, similar to beams found in other Phillips-built homes. Harry’s son Jerry attributes the design of the beam to architect George M. Wolff, who is believed to have designed many of Phillips’ homes.

Detail of a hand-carved beam, Henry and Louise Phillips Home. Photo courtesy of Tami and Brian Clare

Thanks to Tami and Brian for making this connection. We’ve recently put them in touch with Jerry to tell him about his grandparents’ home and to ask a few questions of their own.

In the process of perusing building permits for other research, we’ve come across another Phillips home to add to the list: 3035 NE 23rd.

Next to builder Frank Read, who built at least 20 homes in Alameda, Phillips was the busiest builder in this neighborhood.

Alameda Home Listed on National Register

December 3, 2009 By in National Register Properties, Neighborhood History Tags: 3 Comments

Word has arrived from Oregon’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) that a prominent home in Alameda has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Edward and Bertha Keller House, located at 3028 NE Alameda Street.

The Edward and Bertha Keller House, 3028 NE Alameda. Photo courtesy of Oregon SHPO.

Here’s the official word from SHPO, which was shared via the Oregon Preservation e-mail list:

Constructed in 1924, the Keller House is important as an example of the early works of master designer Elmer E. Feig and the English Cottage Revival style. Feig began his career in 1921 when he obtained a building contractor license while employed by the City of Portland Buildings Bureau as a plans examiner. Feig’s early work included a handful of homes, but he quickly transitioned to apartment buildings where he creatively merged a variety of European-revival styles such as Tudor, Spanish Colonial, Mediterranean, and California Mission. Among his commissions are 24 properties noted in the Portland Historic Resource Inventory as “having architectural merit” and the National Register-listed Spanish Colonial Revival-style Santa Barbara Apartments built in 1928.

SHPO has placed a copy of the nomination form on its website. Do take a look, (click here for a PDF of the application) which will give you appreciation both for the home, and the thoroughness of the application and review process.

This brings to five the total number of homes in the original Olmsted Park or Alameda Park plats that have made it onto the list. The other four are the Thomas J. Autzen house, located at 2425 NE Alameda; the Thomas Prince House, located at 2903 NE Alameda; the Louis and Elizabeth Woerner House, located at 2815 NE Alameda; and the Oliver K. and Margaret Jeffrey House 3033 NE Bryce.

Old School

November 29, 2009 By in Alameda School, Neighborhood History, Old Photos, Research Tags: , , Leave a comment

 

Alameda School, 1923. Picture taken looking southeast from the corner of NE 27th and Fremont. OHS image OrHi 105623.

We received word last week from Portland Public Schools that they’re sharing an inventory of their many historic properties, including our favorite Alameda Elementary School, and nearby Beaumont Middle School.

You can find these reports and many others at this link, which is interestingly housed within the Office of School Modernization.

Looks like Alameda faired well in the analysis in terms of its historic integrity, but Beaumont–due to many alterations made over time–did not. Both buildings were designed by George Jones, the one-man Portland school architectural institution (actually two man institution, his father Thomas had also been architect for the Portland School District years earlier).

The good news for Alameda Elementary School is that it scores well as a candidate for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Perhaps a small group of interested parents and historic building fans might be up to the task…? Count us in if we can find a quorum.

Be sure to have a look at these other posts related to Alameda School.

Portland’s Phone Network, Circa 1911

November 14, 2009 By in Research Tags: , 5 Comments

In the midst of the communication technology that has come to define our busy lives—mobile everything and 24/7 communication—we thought a little historical context might be of interest. During a recent session with The Oregonian microfilm, we came across this little nugget from January 11, 1911.

1911-Telephone-Service,-11-

From The Oregonian, January 11, 1911.

Just wanted to make sure you caught that: the Home Telephone & Telegraph Company, working at a very busy pace, installed 2,460 phones in calendar year 1910, bringing the total number of working phones in Portland to 12,254. Just for interest sake, Portland’s total population in 1911 was 212,290. Between 1910-1911, more than 13,000 building permits were issued in Portland, a record that made the City Building Department (formerly located in City Hall) a very busy place. Construction in Portland, and in our brand new neighborhoods here in the Northeast quarter of the city, was taking place at a pace which we can hardly imagine today.

In our 1912 bungalow, the first phone was hidden away in a box tucked into the wainscot in the breakfast nook. A later version had its very own table mounted to the wall in the hallway outside the master bedroom. Not sure when the “twisted pair” arrived here, but our hunch–based on what was a growing trend both in homebuilding and telephone business–is that we were wired from the beginning. What’s the history of the phone in your house?

At a time when we take wi-max, wi-fi, cell phones and the internet for granted, the notion of 12,254 working phones in Portland makes us want to slow down a bit, and wonder if people were actually better connected then.

Harry Phillips: Putting a face with a name

November 8, 2009 By in Builders Tags: 1 Comment

11-7-Harry-Phillips

Harry Phillips, Alameda Builder, 1886-1935.

We’ve often walked the Alameda Ridge above and below Ridgewood and admired the work of Harry Phillips, a prolific builder and designer who shaped the western edge of the Alameda Park neighborhood. It’s been a pleasure to be able to visit with and interview his two sons–now in their 80s–to learn more about their father’s work and his too-short life. You might have read the profile we wrote about him in The Builders section. The quality of Harry Phillips’ work, and the striking sadness of his family story, have captured our imagination.

So it was particularly nice recently when Harry’s son Jerry sent along a portrait of his dad, taken in the 1920s. Seeing Harry Phillips helps us to imagine him and his family here in Alameda, and to honor his work. It’s too easy to forget the many lives who have shaped our homes and neighborhood in the last century. Here’s one person–thanks to his dedicated sons and stories passed across these many years–who is remembered.

Welcome Hollywood Star Readers

November 6, 2009 By in About the Blog 4 Comments

We read the very nice story by Janet Goetze in the November issue of the Hollywood Star News, which arrived in our mailbox today. She wrote about our passion for seeking out the history of the neighborhood, and highlighted some of the stories you’ll find here. Thank you, Janet. (She didn’t mention this in the article, but she lives in house built by prolific Alameda builder Frank Read, who you can read more about by clicking here). Here are links to the topics she mentioned in the article:

You’ll find the information on Elwood Wiles here.

More about the Broadway Streetcar here.

A collection of stories about people who are living in the houses where they grew up is here.

The remarkable tale of the Pearson Ponderosa Pine is here.

Have a good poke around the blog: there’s lots to read and you’ll find topics not just about Alameda, but Beaumont-Wilshire, Rose City Park and Albina too. And if you’d like a little more on neighborhood history, come along to the program I’m doing at the Archtectural Heritage Center on the morning of Saturday, January 23rd.

Of course, I’m always on the lookout for an old photo, a mystery to solve or a neighborhood or old house story to listen to, so leave a comment here on the blog or drop me a note at doug@alamedahistory.org And if you’d like some help investigating the history of your own house, check out the research services and resources tab.

Thanks for dropping by.

Gems from the Treasure Trove

September 15, 2009 By in Artifacts, Builders, Remodel Tags: 1 Comment

It’s been quiet on the Alameda old house history blog for the last month or so, but time to get back into the swing of things as the kids return to school, and as the weather transitions to more research-friendly conditions like cloudy, cool and wet. Actually, I think this stretch from now through late October holds some of my favorite Oregon weather.

In addition to perking along with a few research projects this summer (but not much blogging), we’ve been working on a kitchen remodel in our almost-hundred-year-old house. We’ve tried to be faithful to the historic design concepts even though we are using standard current kitchen technology. We’ve been fortunate to have a great architect in Arciform and an excellent contractor in Joe Petrina and Petrina Construction. You can read more about our kitchen adventure here, and maybe share your own pearls of wisdom about surviving a kitchen remodel.

As we’ve worked through the remodel process, we’ve kept a keen eye for clues from the past, and we’ve found some interesting items…nothing earth shattering, but some quaint signs of the time. Thanks to some insulating material (as in crumpled up newspaper) we confirmed the long-held thought that a back porch extension was made to the house sometime in 1930.  Below is a clip about the Reo Convention coming to Portland, from the Sunday Oregonian on February 2, 1930.

 7-14-Exhibit-7

 

Here’s an interesting scoop about the world’s largest passenger plane — a 30-seat Fokker – coming to Portland. And below that, from January 26, 1930, a story about a record order expected for new Chevrolets to keep up with a booming demand for new cars. Apparently, the market had not yet found the bottom. Hmm.

7-14-Exhibit-3

Exhibit 8

 

But probably one of the most interesting finds during the remodel was the signed name of our original builder, William B. Donahue, who we have profiled here on the blog. We found this little gem buried deep inside a wall, signed in what looks like blue grease pencil or blue chalk on the back of a wainscot panel that faces our breakfast nook, on the other side of the kitchen wall. Check it out:

9-15-post-Donahue-Signature

Because we’ve found documents and letters sent by Donahue years after his construction endeavors, we think we can recognize the handwriting. If you look to the left of the crossbrace, you can see the “#1.” Could be that Donahue was sorting out the plywood he wanted for the wainscot, and this had a number 1 grade side (the other side). Not sure. But it sure was a treat to find.

When you are working on your renovations, be sure to tell the contractor and the crew that you are interested in old house archaeology. You might even ask them for their stories about the most unusual items they’ve ever found working on these time capsules we call our homes.

What have you found?